Latest Health News

1May
2020

Obamacare May Have Boosted Use of Mammograms

Obamacare May Have Boosted Use of MammogramsFRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Medicaid expansion under Obamacare has increased access to mammograms for impoverished older women, a new study suggests. In those states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), women who didn't have access to this breast cancer screening tool have it now, the study authors said. "The ACA created a natural experiment in which some states expanded Medicaid and other ones did not," said Dr. Christine Rohde, associate professor of surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. "This research shows that Medicaid expansion through the ACA does have a significant impact on patients, specifically in terms of insurance coverage and mammography," she explained in a news release from the American College of...

Early High School Start Times May Hurt Attendance

1 May 2020
Early High School Start Times May Hurt AttendanceFRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- High school students who have early start times are more likely to show up late or cut school entirely, a new study finds. As schools across the United States think about reopening, they might want to bear this in mind. "The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that high schools begin class after 8:30 a.m., but we know that most schools start much earlier," said researcher Melinda Morrill, an associate professor of economics at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh. "We were able to look at five high schools that moved start times from 8:05 a.m. to 7:25 a.m. in order to examine the effect that the change had on students," she said in a university news release. The researchers found that the five schools had significantly lower...

Heart Attacks, Strokes Are Declining Among People With...

1 May 2020
Heart Attacks, Strokes Are Declining Among People With DiabetesFRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- An Australian study has good news for people with type 2 diabetes -- fewer people with diabetes are having heart attacks and strokes compared to 20 years ago. Heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular complications have declined in the general population, too. But the decreases among people with diabetes have outpaced those for the general population, the researchers said. Senior author Dr. Timothy Davis, from the University of Western Australia, called the findings reassuring. They show that modern management of blood sugar and other risk factors "is having the desired effect on chronic vascular complications," he said. But not all of his findings were positive. "Although life expectancy is increasing in both groups, the difference...

Have a Hangover? Try This Herbal Remedy

1 May 2020
Have a Hangover? Try This Herbal RemedyFRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- For as long as humans have been drinking alcohol, they have sought a cure for hangovers. Now, a small study suggests that a mix of plant extracts might help ease the misery. Researchers found that the herbal blend -- of Barbados cherry, prickly pear, ginkgo biloba, willow and ginger root extracts -- seemed to lessen certain hangover symptoms. The supplement also contained various vitamins and minerals. But study participants given those nutrients alone saw no hangover relief. It all suggests, the researchers said, that something about the plant compounds might explain the benefit -- though it's not clear precisely what. "Our study does not allow us to identify which plant ingredients, exactly, are responsible," said researcher Patrick...

AHA News: Standing at a Church Pulpit, a Blood Vessel Burst in Her Brain

1 May 2020
AHA News: Standing at a Church Pulpit, a Blood Vessel Burst in Her BrainFRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- As a caretaker for her aging and ailing parents, Deborah Brown took on many responsibilities. At work, she dealt with extreme cases of child abuse and neglect as a lead trauma investigator for the City of Chesapeake Child Protective Services in Virginia. Even though she knew she was "burning the candle at both ends," Brown gladly took on another duty – speaking at the women's day service at Covenant Fellowship Church. Shortly after greeting the crowd, Brown began to repeat herself. She stepped back from the podium momentarily, then continued. "The next thing I knew she was on the floor," said Dorothy Overton, the women's services minister who had invited Brown to be the guest speaker. Brown had stumbled over the audio speaker...

Blood Count May Offer Clues to Treatment of COVID-19: Study

1 May 2020
Blood Count May Offer Clues to Treatment of COVID-19: StudyFRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The severity of COVID-19 illness may be influenced by what researchers call "cytokine storms." In a new study, investigators assessed 522 COVID-19 patients, aged 5 days to 97 years, who were admitted to two hospitals in Wuhan, China, in December and January. The study also included a "control group" of 40 healthy people. Compared to the control group, 76% of COVID-19 patients had significantly lower levels of T cells -- a type of white blood cell that plays a crucial role in immune response against viral infections. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit had much lower T cell counts than those who didn't require ICU care. Patients over age 60 had the lowest T cell counts, the findings showed. And the T cells that did survive in COVID-19...

ECMO: Technology That Might Help COVID Patients When Ventilators Can't

1 May 2020
ECMO: Technology That Might Help COVID Patients When Ventilators Can`tFRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Many people who are seriously ill with COVID-19 end up on ventilators to help them breathe, but sometimes, even ventilators aren't enough. That's when a device called ECMO may help. ECMO can do the work of the lungs and in some cases, the heart. ECMO stands for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. It's a machine that oxygenates blood using a complex circuit of pumps, tubes, filters and monitors. Someone on ECMO has to be monitored by a team of experts, and it's not available in all hospitals. "ECMO doesn't do anything to treat COVID-19, but it buys you time by replacing the function of the lungs to allow recovery of the lungs," explained Dr. Jonathan Haft, director of the ECMO program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. John...

White House Says Coronavirus Vaccine Could Be Ready By January

1 May 2020
White House Says Coronavirus Vaccine Could Be Ready By JanuaryFRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As national guidelines on social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic expired Thursday, the White House announced an initiative to produce a COVID-19 vaccine that could be available nationwide by January. President Donald Trump said it is not too optimistic to try to produce roughly 300 million doses of vaccine in eight months, enough for all Americans, the Washington Post reported. "No, I'm not overpromising. I don't know who said it, but whatever the maximum is, whatever you can humanly do, we're going to have. And we hope we're going to come up with a good vaccine," the president said during a coronavirus task force briefing Thursday. Even the shorter timeline still means there would be no full protection from the coronavirus until...

CDC Draft Guidelines For Reopening U.S. Being Reviewed...

FRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Spaced-out seating in schools, virtual or outdoor religious services, and disposable menus, plates and utensils at restaurants are among U.S. Centers for...

During Droughts, Many Poor Americans Will Lack Clean Tap...

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Poor and minority Americans are most likely to lose access to clean tap water as droughts become more common and severe, a new paper says. Water...
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